Mixue Ice City updates its prospectus: the number of stores reaches 45,000, surpassing Starbucks, with revenue of 18.7 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2024
Mixue Bingcheng updated its prospectus, planning to go public on January 1, 2025, with the number of stores reaching 45,000, surpassing Starbucks to become the world's largest fresh beverage company. In the first three quarters of 2024, revenue was 18.7 billion yuan, and net profit was 3.5 billion yuan, representing year-on-year growth of 21.2% and 42.3%, respectively. Financial data continues to improve, and net cash flow from operating activities has also significantly increased
According to IPO Early News, Mixue Ice City Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Mixue Ice City") updated its prospectus on January 1, 2025, continuing to advance the listing process on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and UBS Group serving as joint sponsors.
Compared to the prospectus submitted in January 2024, Mixue Ice City has seen significant growth in the number of stores, cup output, and terminal retail sales.
Steady Performance Growth, Store Count Ranks First in the World
As a leading fresh beverage company, Mixue Ice City focuses on providing high-quality and affordable fresh fruit drinks, tea drinks, ice cream, and coffee products to a wide range of consumers. It operates the fresh tea drink brand "Mixue Ice City" and the freshly ground coffee brand "Lucky Coffee."
Comparing the two versions of the prospectus, Mixue Ice City's financial data has consistently been impressive. On a massive scale, Mixue Ice City has maintained strong growth, excellent profitability, and ample cash flow— in 2022 and 2023, Mixue Ice City's revenue was 13.6 billion yuan and 20.3 billion yuan, respectively, with year-on-year growth of 31.2% and 49.6%; net profit was 2 billion yuan and 3.2 billion yuan, with year-on-year growth of 5.3% and 58.3%.
Entering 2024, Mixue Ice City continues to see growth in revenue and net profit— in the first three quarters of 2024, Mixue Ice City achieved revenue of 18.7 billion yuan, an increase of 21.2% compared to the same period in 2023; net profit reached 3.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.3%. Additionally, in 2022, 2023, and the first three quarters of 2024, Mixue Ice City achieved net cash inflows from operating activities of 2.4 billion yuan, 3.8 billion yuan, and 5.1 billion yuan, respectively.
In addition to financial data, Mixue Ice City has also achieved steady growth in the number of stores. Specifically, as of September 30, 2024, Mixue Ice City has over 45,000 stores in 11 countries (including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Australia, Japan, and South Korea), making it the world's leading fresh beverage company by store count.
In the domestic fresh beverage industry, Mixue Ice City is the only chain enterprise with over 40,000 stores, and it has ranked first in store count from 2018 to 2023. Meanwhile, "Mixue Ice City" has opened approximately 4,800 stores outside mainland China, ranking first in the Southeast Asian market. In 2023 and the first nine months of 2024, Mixue Ice City's store network achieved beverage cup outputs of approximately 7.4 billion cups and 7.1 billion cups, respectively.
Commitment to Shared Interests with Franchisees, Global Store Terminal Retail Sales Reached 47.8 Billion Yuan in 2023
While the number of stores continues to rise, the number of Mixue Ice City franchisees has also significantly increased. The prospectus shows that the number of franchisees in the years 2021, 2022, 2023, and the first nine months of 2024 was 9,784, 13,625, 16,784, and 19,780, respectively, among which the number of franchisees operating multiple stores was 3,585, 5,382, 7,041, and 8, 292 people. According to data from ZhiShi Consulting, the retention rate of franchisees of Mixue Ice City is far higher than the average level of the same period in the ready-to-drink beverage industry.
Behind the data is Mixue Ice City's insistence on "sharing interests with franchisees"—Mixue Ice City has designed a series of systems that keep the initial investment and franchise fees lower than the industry average, making it the only company in the domestic industry that simultaneously exempts franchisees from logistics fees, space design fees, and promotional material fees.
Moreover, Mixue Ice City continuously empowers franchisees through standardized management in site selection, store types, operations, and marketing, helping franchisees achieve greater success. In addition, Mixue Ice City provides centralized training for franchisees and store employees to ensure the quality of store operations and continuously improve operational efficiency through smart store solutions.
Under the concept of shared interests, the franchise model of Mixue Ice City has been able to develop sustainably and healthily, with its store terminal retail sales also achieving steady growth. In 2021, 2022, 2023, and the first nine months of 2024, Mixue Ice City’s stores achieved terminal retail sales of approximately 22.8 billion yuan, 30.7 billion yuan, 47.8 billion yuan, and 44.9 billion yuan, respectively.
Long-term Deep Cultivation of Supply Chain, Adhering to the "High Quality and Affordable" Concept
It is worth mentioning that Mixue Ice City's value proposition and product positioning of "high quality and affordable" have received continuous market recognition.
Taking Mixue Ice City's core product "Fresh Ice Cream" as an example, this product is usually priced at 2 yuan and has been popular with consumers since its launch in 2005. In the first three quarters of 2024, Mixue Ice City sold approximately 1.4 billion ice cream products in China. According to ZhiShi Consulting, in 2023, for every 10 ready-to-drink ice creams sold in China, more than 3 came from "Mixue Ice City."
At the same time, several other evergreen products from Mixue Ice City also performed well in the market— in the first three quarters of 2024, "Ice Fresh Lemonade" sold approximately 1.1 billion cups in China, and "Bubble Tea" sold approximately 385 million cups in China. According to ZhiShi Consulting, in 2023, for every 10 cups of ready-to-drink lemonade sold in China, more than 8 cups came from "Mixue Ice City," and for every 10 cups of bubble tea sold, more than 3 cups came from "Mixue Ice City."
A supply chain with both depth and breadth is one of the key factors for Mixue Ice City to create "high quality and affordable" products. A research report from ZhiShi Consulting states that Mixue Ice City currently has the largest complete end-to-end supply chain system in China's ready-to-drink beverage industry, covering key links such as procurement, production, logistics, research and development, and quality control, enabling it to provide franchisees with highly competitive one-stop solutions. Currently, the core beverage ingredients provided to franchisees by Mixue Ice City are 100% self-produced.
From the procurement perspective, Mixue Ice City has established a procurement network covering six continents and 38 countries, allowing the company to procure many core raw materials at prices below the industry average, providing consumers with products that offer better value for money. For example, in terms of similar types and qualities of milk powder and lemons, Mixue Ice City's procurement costs in 2023 were approximately 10% and over 20% lower than the industry average, respectively In addition, Mixue Ice City has established five major production bases covering a total area of approximately 790,000 square meters, with an annual comprehensive production capacity of about 1.65 million tons. Through its self-produced and self-researched system, Mixue Ice City provides a full range of one-stop beverage ingredient solutions, including sugar, milk, tea, coffee, fruit, grain, and materials. According to ZhiShi Consulting, as of September 30, 2024, Mixue Ice City has become the largest enterprise in China’s ready-to-drink beverage supply chain in terms of product variety and scale.
On the logistics side, Mixue Ice City’s self-operated warehousing system and exclusive distribution network support the widest store layout in China’s ready-to-drink beverage industry. As of September 30, 2024, Mixue Ice City’s distribution network covers 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in mainland China, over 300 prefecture-level cities, 1,700 counties, and 4,900 townships, with the highest coverage breadth and depth in the industry. As of September 30, 2024, Mixue Ice City’s distribution network also covers over 560 cities in four overseas countries. As of September 30, 2024, in mainland China, Mixue Ice City has achieved delivery within 12 hours in over 90% of counties, with approximately 97% of stores achieving cold chain logistics coverage.
Empowering the Snow King IP, Accumulating Brand Strength to Support the Longevity of the Enterprise
Enhancing brand image through brand collaborations has become a primary choice for domestic ready-to-drink beverage companies. In terms of increasing brand awareness, Mixue Ice City has taken a different path from its domestic peers: brand IP development.
In 2018, Mixue Ice City created the super IP and lifelong spokesperson for "Mixue Ice City"—the Snow King. Today, the "Snow King" IP has become the only super IP in China’s ready-to-drink beverage industry, accumulating loyal fans from different countries around the world with diverse cultural backgrounds. As of December 27, 2024, the cumulative exposure of topics related to "Snow King" and the theme song "You Love Me, I Love You, Mixue Ice City Sweet" on major social platforms has exceeded 8.7 billion and 8.4 billion times, respectively, while the animation "Snow King Arrives" has been viewed over 200 million times. The "Snow King" IP has started with beverages and transcended them, becoming a cultural symbol.
"Mixue Ice City" has also become a household name in China. As of September 30, 2024, the number of registered members of "Mixue Ice City" reached approximately 315 million. As of December 27, 2024, "Mixue Ice City" has a total of 46 million followers across six major social platforms, including WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Weibo, and Bilibili, making it the most followed in China’s ready-to-drink beverage industry.
Overall, with advantages in supply chain system construction and large-scale store management, Mixue Ice City has become a leading enterprise in China’s ready-to-drink beverage sector.
It can be said that compared to other brands, Mixue Ice City has unique market positioning, store expansion strategies, and brand building, allowing it to maintain strong competitiveness in a fiercely competitive environment Risk Warning and Disclaimer
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